Take your time

The said woman had her hands clenched into fists. She inhaled deeply and winced as she took one step at a time going up the steps. She tried to walk as natural as possible but her screaming muscles made her move a little stiffer. A familiar snigger was heard from behind her fueling her annoyance.

"Take your time", May's voice oozing with amusement was heard from behind her.

To Kareena's relief, she took the last step and proceeded to enter the plane. Other passengers who walked past her gave her strange looks when they looked at her face. Ignoring them, she proceeded to first class and found her seat.

She sensed a stare, it was practically boring a hole on the side of her face. She looked over to find an elderly lady occupying a cubicle opposite hers. The woman had on a worried and fearful expression as she looked at the girl. 

If not for her expression, Kareena would have concluded that the lady thought she was some sort of celebrity. As long as she didn't say anything, Kareena would ignore her. But....

"I don't mean to be rude but...", The older woman trailed off, unsure of how best to word her question. "Are you..... sick?"

That's what the look was for? Kareena now understood. They were living in the post Covid-19 pandemic era. Although its effects had died down, people still tried to be careful. Kareena wearing a mask was not helping matters.

"I'm not-", Kareena caught herself and winced, her voice was long gone. The loudest she could speak was a husky whisper. Still, she explained herself, "I'm not sick."

"What was that?" The older woman lifted her upper body inching towards her to hear her better.

"She's not sick", May, who had settled in front of the older woman spoke. "If she was, they wouldn't have let her board the plane. She just lost her voice."

"I suppose that is true", she sat back down, agreeing to May's words that made sense. But, she soon found fault with them and glanced over at Kareena one more time. "Are you sure she's not sick? Then why is she walking funny?"

"Pwa ha ha!" May broke into an uncontrollable laugh as she fell back in her seat. She was not sure how to help her best friend in this case. "Yes, why is she walking funny?"

Kareena's annoyance bubbled back up and she turned her head, looking away from the two. She could feel her face burn red underneath the mask and dark shades.

This was precisely why she wore them, to shield any emotions she failed to conceal especially with May constantly taking any opportunity to tease her, and the pain from her aching nether regions. 

"Don't worry, it's nothing for you to worry about", May brushed her off, to Kareena's surprise. 

"Are you sure?" 

May continued to assure her, leading the attention away from Kareena, and proceeded to chatter about with the lady. Kareena was left to her thoughts. That man.... He was certainly not human.... He was a beast....

He had worn her out until the wee hours of the morning. Every time she succumbed to sleep after an intense 'workout', he would wake her up and take her into new positions. He went as far as doing her when she was half awake until she passed out only for her to automatically wake up thirty minutes later.

She had trained her body like so as it was convenient for when she was out on missions. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she felt like screaming both in pain and at the man who caused it. 

But, when she saw his peaceful sleeping face, she remembered his gentle murmurings and caresses, the passionate night she had with him.... She was going to treat him like a beautiful memory. So she dressed up and neatly placed his scattered clothes on a chair for him before she left.

Kareena closed her eyes, having no choice but to welcome the sleep taunting her heavy eyelids with thoughts of him haunting her as she flew back home. 

It was meant to be a one night stand anyway. There was no way she would see him again...